Most university housing systems would collapse without local privately owned lodgings. According to The Times newspaper, in September 2006 over 120,000 students were looking for accommodation in London and only 33,000 institutionally owned beds were available, leaving almost 90,000 students having to look elsewhere. Whilst campus accommodation is generally guaranteed for the first year to all undergraduates who request it, after this point students tend to have to find a new home off-campus for themselves and their traffic cone collections.
The same conundrum applies to other university towns / cities throughout Europe. It’s often not feasible to satisfy demands for student housing on campus thus paving the way for entrepreneurial types who specifically buy in university catchment areas to let to the student population. Students are actually, contrary to popular belief, ideal tenants. Rent collection rates are high (often using parents as guarantors) and there are few fallow periods, unlike with a holiday home, with a seamless stream of prospective tenants.
Looking to Bulgaria, a green area of suburban Sofia, Ovcha Kupel, is the location for the New Bulgarian University (NBU) which opened in 1991 and was accredited by the Open University in the UK in 2004. Annually 12,000 students study at NBU, which has a bias towards Humanities and Arts, however the University has no campus accommodation but instead assists students in finding homes in the private sector.
Within walking distance of NBU is the future answer to their accommodation problems and a landlord’s dream with tenants on tap – Slanchev Dom apartments. This off-plan project, scheduled for completion in April 2008, is not only perfectly located for the University, but also for the shops and nightlife of Sofia city centre, the international airport, the Simeonovo cabin lift to Aleko Ski Resort (only 22km from Sofia), the golf course and also to the bold 300,000m² Business Park Sofia.
With views of Vitosha Mountain which acts as an imposing backdrop to the city of Sofia, Slanchev Dom comprises studios, one, two and three bedroom apartments built to the highest European standards. The homes can either be purchased as a basic ‘shell’ or for an extra 75 euros per square metre be kitted out with quality floor coverings, painted interior walls, mixer taps, light switches, sockets and a full bathroom suite. Every unit is equipped with gas-fired central and water heating and all-important TV and internet connections to keep the students happy. On-site shopping and secure underground parking available at an additional fee completes the picture.
Prices, inclusive of 20% VAT, start from a startlingly low 48,000 euros for a studio apartment. A realistic rent for a new studio apartment in this area would be 200 euros per month. A 2,000 euro deposit reserves a unit at Slanchev Dom and a payment schedule is spread out up until completion in the second quarter of 2008.
Dream Homes Worldwide can be contacted on UK freephone 08000 193 847 or Irish freephone 1800 805 006 or in Spain telephone 00 34 952 908 803 email enquiry@dreamhomesww.com or view www.dreamhomesww.com
Additional Notes:
• Bulgaria smoothly joined the EU on 1 January 2007 – new EU funding, improved infrastructure and trading links will increase demand for Bulgarian property.
• Bulgaria’s GDP growth was 5.5% in 2005 compared to the EU average of 1.8%.
• Bulgaria has one of the lowest costs of living in Europe.
• The property market is equivalent to that of the Costa del Sol 20 years ago, affordable but always on the up.
• In Sofia in 2005 residential sales beat those of 2004 by two to one.
• Sofia has seen a recent influx of MNCs such as Microsoft, Hewlett Packard, Deutsche Bank and Google - workers need rented accommodation.
• Sofia is three hours by direct flight from the UK.
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For further press information or photography please contact Sarah Drane on
00 34 607 564 726 or email sarah@purplecakefactory.com
